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You can configure an Anderson connector pair in a way that it won't reverse. I use them quite frequently, and have a local (though admittedly undocumented...) standard for what orientations mean what voltage. It's not bulletproof, but it does make me think when things don't line up.

A breakout box usually has both male and female sides, along with the banana or whatever breakout in the middle, so it can be plugged into either side of the circuit, or both at once and watch signals while the system operates. It's not genderless, it's a pass-through.

Making an only-faces-the-motor breakout, and a separate only-faces-the-driver breakout, might've been prudent, presuming that they used unique and consistent connectors, for instance a single gender always on the motors. But that's quite an assumption and I can imagine a ton of reasons it might not apply.

This was a test fixture so probably banana leads.

I color code _everything_.

All the major suppliers make hermaphroditic connectors, but like you I’ve only ever seen the powerpoles in person.